SEATTLE, US: Microsoft Corp will show off its latest mobile phones on Monday, but don't expect a direct rival to the iPhone.
The world's largest software company is trying a new tack in the hotly contested arena with its long-awaited "Project Pink" devices.
Unlike Apple's popular device or Research in Motion's BlackBerry, they are aiming at hyperactive teenagers who want multiple instant messaging accounts, e-mail, games, music and Facebook in a cool-looking package.
The phones won't be powered by Microsoft's upcoming Windows Phone 7 software, and will be priced much lower than the iPhone or Google Inc's Nexus One.
But investors will be watching closely as Microsoft, which has ceded ground in past years in handheld devices, attempts to reassert itself in a small but significant way.
The Microsoft-branded phones -- made by Japan's Sharp and sold by Verizon Wireless -- are the souped-up descendants of the Sidekick, originally made by hip phone developers Danger, which Microsoft bought two years ago.
With distinctive slide-out keyboards and swiveling screens, Danger's phones are popular with a young urban crowd that has more in common with Microsoft's Xbox gaming audience than its mainstream business-oriented software.
"This is a trial for Microsoft," said Toan Tran, an analyst at Morningstar. "If this goes well or better than they expect, they may be more willing to dip their toe in the water and build a full-fledged phone."
Age Of Experimentation
Apple's minutely designed iPhone showed the weakness in Microsoft's approach of creating mobile software and letting handset makers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola control the rest.
Among the array of Windows-powered phones, few approach Apple's smooth user experience, which has attracted tens of millions of customers and redefined the smartphone category.
Microsoft admitted as much when as it launched its new Windows phone software in February, saying it was working more closely with phone makers to make sure the resulting products hit the mark. The arrival of the first of the new phones this autumn will determine their success.
In the meantime, Monday's "Project Pink" phones -- which will have a new name at launch -- appear to be an experiment in building its own-brand phone, if only for a limited market, reducing the chances of upsetting Microsoft's handset partners.
"It's the great age of experimentation in mobile devices," said Kim Caughey, senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group. "These companies are doing experiments to figure out how big all these sub-demographics are."
Microsoft has a good chance of succeeding, said Caughey, citing sales of Xbox sales to a similar crowd.
Loose Foothold
But the scale of the experiment is small. No more than 30 million social networking/messaging phones were sold in the United States last year, according to Wall Street analysts. In total, 1.1 billion mobile phones were sold worldwide in 2009.
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